The Aishwarya Dhanush directorial "Vai Raja Vai" has got a good opening at the box office. The Tamil movie benefitted after Kamal Haasan's "Uttama Villain" release was stalled in India.
The movie has earned ₹3.35 crore on the opening day in Tamil Nadu. The movie had an occupancy over 65% on the first day.
"Vai Raja Vai" opened to fairly positive reviews. While the first half has been highly appreciated, the second half failed to maintain the same momentum, leading critics to declare it as just an average movie.
However, the biggest advantage "Vai Raja Vai" had was the delay in the release of "Uttama Villain". The last-minute cancellation of shows of Kamal Haasan movie turned out to be a blessing for Aishwarya Dhanush's movie, as people, who had visited theatres to watch the Kamal Haasan starrer, ended up watching "Vai Raja Vai"
"Vai Raja Vai" was released in limited screens worldwide and could only release in about 150-170 screens in Tamil Nadu. The overall screen count of the movie is estimated to be about 400. However, at key centres, the Tamil film ran into packed houses.
Even in Tamil Nadu, "Vai Raja Vai" got a fantastic start. Trade tracker Sreedhar Pillai confirmed the news on Twitter and wrote: "#VaiRajaVai takes a good opening & cashes in on UV's absence." Meanwhile, good word-of-mouth is expected to improve the movie's performance on Saturday and Sunday.
"Vai Raja Vai", which is a romantic-comedy movie, stars Gautham Karthik and Priya Anand in lead roles. Vivek and Taapsee Pannu have played important roles. The movie has Yuvan Shankar Raja's music, Velraj's cinematography and VT Vijayan's editing.